This book is a hot mess. Seriously, the author takes the rich boy falls for poor girl to a whole new level in this book. Falling into lust and then love, this couple has a raw messy romance that isn't quite a romance in the beginning. Their "chance" encounter starts with sex, then turns to obsession, then love. Those in their lives are confused and conflicted about their relationship. The couple is faced with not only socio-economic issues but issues concerning race as well.

Jamey is a Yale educated with a wealthy father and actress mother. His family looks polished and put together but they are dysfunctional, not loving, friendly or overly nice at all. What they do excel at is control. His parents are divorced but are both on the same page with not wanting their son with Elyse. Jamey's parents will do whatever they can to stop their son from making what they feel is a mistake by being with Elyse.

Elyse was born to a teenage Mother and grew up in poverty and did not finish high school. She has seen and experienced things growing up that made her tough and street smart. Her emotions rule her and she lives her life with passion. She is not polished or the "girl next door" type. She smokes, she swears, she works in a fish store, and she is not out to impress anyone. She is, in essence, true to herself. Her family is more accepting of her relationship with Jamey.

Their tale is dark, sexy, raw, emotional and twisted. This is not a love conquers all fairy tale romance. Their romance is rough and seedy. They love and want the other and then get sick/upset with themselves for their want and needs. I'll admit there were times I thought "what the hell am I reading?" This is a raw gritty book. This book is definitely not for everyone. This is not your Mother's Harlequin romance.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A poetically beautiful book.

This is not your typical love story, but the author wrote this so well that I could not put it down.

Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Jamey and Elise are next door neighbors but come from two different worlds. They connect when their worlds collide one day, changing their relationship forever. While the plot sounded interesting and exciting, there was not enough substance to keep my attention.

I did not click with this book. The writing was ok in some spots but it felt overly wordy and quite pretentious. I found the characters difficult to connect with and was bored a quarter of the way through the novel. Sad, because I had high hopes for this one.

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

The writing was very good in some places but too wordy and pretentious in others - like the author was trying too hard to come up with interesting ways to describe things. I couldn't relate to the characters - or the story. Not every book appeals to every reader. No fault of the book, but I didn't especially enjoy it.

White Fur by Jardine Libaire is out today.
There is to say that, as for the rest of the books of the group Penguin Random House, this one is a Crown publishing book, it is wonderfully written.
There is a lightness in writing-style, a sophisticated touch that I can just tell it's simply enchanting.

The story is pretty sad.
It's an encounter.
The fatal encounter able to change the existence and the destiny of two young people.
For worse.

Elise and James or Jamey are people of two completely different worlds, with different expectations and destinies, expectations "chosen" from life because of their birth.

Elise Perez is great in love-making and it's what James Hyde find fascinating at first although there is another girl Millie in his life, but no comparison with this wild creature she met one day.

Elise lived a frustrating childhood. Can you believe it? Her first orgasm was on a bus when she was 11 years old.
She grew up in foster houses, her family pretty disconnected, she discovered sex at just 7 years and she understood it pretty soon.
No high school, very different background from the one of James.

James will become someone.
He is a junior at Yale, his family is very good, he didn't live a strained life and he is also extremely rich.

You know: I am not skeptical: sometimes it happens like when Cinderella met Prince Charming and well it was good, no?
It happens in real life as well without to disturb a classic fairy-tale but in this novel the story is pretty hard, very disturbing.

The two can't stop to love each other of a sick love and this consumption, this union, will bring devastating conclusions while James' family, obviously will try all his best for trying to interrupt this relationship and this perdition. But no, James can't stop it because Elise slowly became his only reason of life. His obsession.

Problem with love in this book is that the two protagonists are good for each other because of James's insecurities first of all. He thinks that with Elise he found his answers. You can have everything without to have nothing in your hands although your family is very good.
James thought he discovered a Paradise with Elise while he precipitated in a hell.

At the same time Elise found someone in love for her after such a nasty life and this is priceless although she is not as enchanted as Jamey is about life. Both of them have profound wounds to cure, both of them are dysfunctional. Both of them are perfect to each other for this reason.

Their love is so immense that at a certain point they will escape away together, from everyone and everything but Jamey is in the hospital...
Elise is addicted to James and Jamey can't live without her, without to feeling that she is close to him.

The book is set in 1986-1987.

The book in its genre can be considered a jewel because these stories happen, just at the end of them invariably you feel sadness.

I didn't love the cover at all. Considering the topic pretty stressing I would have picked up something more relaxing to look at, for then falling in the reading, but dividing the moments ;-) just for giving some relaxation to the mind.


I thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this ebook

This book is beautifully, eloquently written! The writing drew me in from the very first sentence and from there I couldn't put the book down. This book is edgy, unique, emotional, and quite brilliant. What first drew me to the book was the 1980's setting since I'm an 80's kid. I loved all the 80's references! An interesting read that keeps you turning the pages for sure!

I'm not rating or reviewing as I didn't read the book in it's entirety. Please see above notes. Thanks.

Jamey and Elise came together against all odds, and as it is the case in this type of opposites attract, it was very rough for them. Despite all odds they stayed together, but it was rough. I felt very sad for them sometimes, but their love was true. It would have been better if they both were able to get better jobs, and lift themselves out of poverty, but it was not to be. The last few chapters was especially difficult. So, the ending? I tried to figure it out. Did they actually went to that place? For what? How will they survive? Maybe these are questions the author wants to answer in another book? The writing at the beginning was also wordy and tedious. I couldn't get to it at first at all. Nice read though.

Favorite Quotes:

Wealthy families lived there before the neighborhood slipped, and the house is forlorn like a society girl forced to get a job.

People looked to him like one of those Tibetan children picked out as a reincarnated lama. They think he knows the secret to life. They get mad when he doesn’t offer it up.

She was handed more personality than other mortals, and chemically fertilized in a glasshouse—now her bionic strength allows her to teleport platters of watercress sandwiches from the kitchen to the library, where she’s beating her friend at backgammon. Her own dogs fear her. Her staff never needs disciplining because they live in terror—her authority hums on a subsonic level to all the creatures in the land.

The dog is like a cotton ball pulled out of a drain. Teeth and gums so nasty her breath transcends a closed door. She torments Angel, waking him by standing over his face and breathing into his nose… Angel opens his eyes every morning to this gremlin.

Why is he hard to look away from? He doesn’t invite it— fantasy is just built into the meaning of his body the way a swimming pool is made for water and a cemetery for graves.

My Review:

I am more than a bit conflicted about how to rate this unique, intense, and mesmerizing story. It was an unusual storyline packed with offbeat and fascinating characters that were not anywhere near the best of human kind, but not the worst either. The main characters of Jamey and Elise were oddly mismatched in almost every area. I was engrossed, frustrated, and entranced by their tale. The storyline weaved a mosaic of good times, schemes, floundering, and anxieties; and was embellished with intricate details of bizarre observations that were startlingly clear, and at times unsettling, yet held me enthralled. I was right there with them as an intrigued and voyeuristic spectator to their careening journey. There were brilliant threads of humorous observations and poignant insights, as well as a lurking heaviness, underlying tension, and dissatisfaction found within their inner musings. Written in my favorite dual POV, I was occasionally horrified yet unfailingly fascinated by these characters and found the plot and writing to be smartly crafted, captivating, maddeningly paced, highly observant, and eerily insightful. But I am stamping my little foot at that ending, it occurred all too quickly, but then again, I’m always greedy and wanting more when it comes to a good story. Jardine Libaire has a new fangirl.

Please see Reviewer Opinions.

Unlike anything I've read before. Really enjoyed this, the end lost me a bit but not enough to sway my overall opinion. Can't wait to see what Libaire does next.

Alright guys, it looks like I'm gonna be in the minority with this one. This is Fates and Furies all over again.

White Fur was a long, painful slog for me. I thought this book was overwritten and vapid; the characters were loathsome and one-dimensional; and perhaps most frustratingly, there was a distinct lack of subtlety to a narrative which was anemic to begin with. Filthy rich Jamey falls in love with Elise from the wrong side of the tracks, and... they have a lot of sex. That's it. That's the book. If you're expecting a nuanced examination of class differences, keep looking, because there's none of that here.

Take this passage, where Elise is meeting Jamey's family:

"Elise should be a Dartmouth lacrosse star whose granddad went to Groton with Bats, and she should be bronzed from the Vineyard, lips opaquely shiny from Chapstick. So happy to meet you, Mr. Hyde!

But no! Jamey is pushing forward the real Elise, in couture dress, shins bruised from basketball, cornrows latticing her lean head, feet wedged into slingbacks."

Getting hit by a freight train whose sides are painted with the words THEY COME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS may have been more subtle, but okay. And this wouldn't be quite so bad if it weren't literally the entire book. There is absolutely no depth here. Jamey is rich and handsome and discontent and restrained, and Elise is poor and crass and loud and impulsive. Jardine Libaire leaves all her cards on the table by the end of the second chapter. There is nothing left to discover about these characters when every facet of their practically non-existent personalities has been spelled out from the very first page.

There's something undeniably voyeuristic about the way this story is spun. This book isn't romantic. It's gritty, dirty, raw. It's about the ugly sides of relationships, about jealousy and obsession. But that wasn't the problem, because in theory that all sounds great to me. I love books that take a conventional premise and then spin the narrative in a different direction. It's Romeo and Juliet but instead of love it's passion, lust, obsession? Cool. Sounds fun.

But it wasn't. I just didn't care. Why was I suffering through the uncomfortable experience of acting as a voyeur into the lives of these two characters who bored me to tears? The answer is because I don't DNF books. That's it. That's the only thing that kept me going. There was absolutely no intrigue, and absolutely no payoff for sticking with it as long as I did.

I thought the prose was terrible. It was trying so hard to come across as devil-may-care that I felt an acute sense of secondhand embarrassment for how much it did care. Each sentence felt artificially manufactured with MFA-degree precision (not that there's anything wrong with getting an MFA in creative writing, but sometimes it just shows; what should come across as effortless becomes painfully obtrusive on every page.) What we're left with isn't artistic or poignant or emotional or insightful, it's mostly just insipid.

(Vaguely NSFW text ahead, this quote is taken from a sex scene.)

"Jamey is starting to operate in a trance, biting his lip. He's a mystical vision of an orangutan in a nature show. He actually has the thought: I'm a monkey, and that's okay. He's got a dumb look on his face and that's okay. For a minute, an hour later, right before he comes again, with two tongues licking him like kittens, he understands everything."

I'm sorry, but what is the point? Is this supposed to be profound? Sexy? Shocking? It's not any of those things. It's awkward. It's dumb. It's embarrassing. I could not stop cringing the entire time I was reading this.

But in an effort of not ending on a terribly negative note: none of my Goodreads friends who have read this have given it less than 4 stars. This is clearly a matter of personal taste, so if you think this sounds like the sort of thing you'll like, give it a try! And I'm sorry for being so negative, but this is one of those books which managed to tick every item on a checklist I didn't even know I had of things I hate in fiction. Sorry White Fur, we were like oil and water from the beginning.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are taken from an ARC copy and may be edited before publication.

I have chosen not to review this book. I'm sorry, but I couldn't get into the story.

I've never been so addictive to raw characters than James "Jamey" Balthazar Hyde and Elise Dawn Perez. This is a brilliantly written book of unexpected circumstances and events that that shook me to my core. This is by no means your cookie cutter romance with butterfly and Eskimo kisses but rather a slightly dark, neurotic, and grit filled page turner. Lust, obsession, sex, and drugs brought this couple together while trust, respect, and loyalty made them last. Jamey and Elise could not be more different.

Jamey grew up with an affluent rich family wearing name brand clothes, sailing on yachts, and received an Ivy League education while Elise grew up in a neighborhood where mouths to feed along with steady pay checks were difficult month to month; she also didn't finish high school. Although these differences were vast between Jamey and Elise the similarities the two shared like feelings of emptiness/loneliness although surrounded by people made the book thought provoking and realistic. Author, Jardine Libaire does an excellent job showcasing prejudices Jamey and/or Elise battled internally or faced blatantly. One of my favorite scenes was the "talk" Jamey's father had with him about Elise.

Even though I've read this book three times already, during each reread I found a passage(s) I now interpret differently. This book is a pitch perfect example that couples from different ethnicities and social backgrounds can get together, have trials and tribulations, and make it as a couple. White Fur: A Novel shows passion so strong I ask myself if I could ever love someone that fiercely and my answer is no- I'm just too selfish in that way so my perspective of the type of love Jamey and Elise value will always be different from my own.

I liked how White Fur: A Novel began with the ending and worked its way forward. This style of writing for me gave the story a sort of poetic feel to it in my opinion and forced not only Jamey and Elise to come full circle but the storyline as well.

White Fur: A Novel was a jarring book of unexpected twists. Honestly speaking I was disappointed in both Jamey and Elise at some point in the book and other characters too but what human is perfect so it was something I got over. This was a good novel from an author I would read something from again. I like books that make feel a bit uncomfortable, make me say WTF, or make me make faces while reading. If any of these things happen, chances are I like the book and I liked this one.

If you’re into romantic books with a bit of an edge then White Fur: A Novel is for you. I give this novel 4.5 I can't breathe without you stars!

***I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Jamey is the Yale educated heir to a banking dynasty. He’s failing classes, and hates his family. The wheels of his life have come off, and from the very beginning of this novel, you suspect there is no way he is ever going to get the car back on the track. Elise is Jamey's drug.

Elise is the daughter of a teenage addict. She may never have had wheels on the track, and as Libaire says early in the book, she hasn’t “a clue what to do with her life except live it.” But she has left home, and found an apartment and a job. She is on her way up in life, and Jamey is her obsession.

Reading the opening chapters of White Fur is like riding the roller coaster to the top, waiting with excitement and dread for the scary downhill that is coming. Reading the closing chapters… well that would be giving it all away.

This is likely to be a marmite book with some loving the style, bare and intense, and others struggling to see the love behind the obsession and rather raw sex scenes.
The book starts with a powerful scene from the future that is shocking and catches the imagination but then we head back to the start with Elise and Jamey. The book builds very slowly and for some they might find themselves struggling to stay with it but as the book continues I found myself being drawn into the lives and choices of the two lead characters.
It is a book that challenges, builds and intrigues as the two young people from immensely different backgrounds engage in a combative and edgy relationship. It is set in the mid 80's but it actually feels quite timeless and could easily be read as now.
It is a grittier book than I normally read but it has layers as drugs, wealth, family and obsession are explored and that makes it a book I have been talking about with the young people I work with!!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of White Fur.

I'm hate to say it, but this was not my cup of tea. I think I'm just getting to old/prudish for material like this. It was too raw, too full of sexual content without context. I appreciate the gritty NY scene with the dichotomy of the troubled girl from a broken home/the old money bachelor with a famous name. But I would have liked it more without all the scuz.

What are you willing to do for love? Would you change your entire life style? Would you break the law? Just how much are you willing to give up?

Jamey and Elise are an unlikely couple. They couldn't come from more different backgrounds; Jamie, a well-to-do, white, trust fund boy has never had to want, or work for anything in his life while Elise, a girl of mixed race, has been on her own since a young teen, and is used to having to do everything for herself.

Jamey finds that he can't get Elise out of his mind, and is drawn to her differences like a moth to a flame. His parents are not on board, to say the least! This is an engaging book about finding love where you least expect it. It's a Romeo and Cinderella love story. The opening is a grabber - Elise is holding a gun on Jamey. Why? Will she really shoot him? Then we are taken back to the prior year when they first met, and taken forward until we reach this moment again.

A delightful read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth Press for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

White Fur was offered to me by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It is categorized as General Fiction (Adult) but it really is the story of a romance, the relationship between two people. Elise and Jamey meet in New Haven, CT where Jamey is a student at Yale and Elise is barely surviving. I am not sure I can give this book an adequate review, not because of the writing but because of me. It just really did not connect with me. I am not sure if it is the bleakness of Elise and Jamey’s life due to their struggles or that I have read very few romances I like. So I would suggest you try the book. It is not a bad book and not bad writing. It just did not draw me in.

DNF @ 41%

White Fur is a book that I debated on reviewing when offered the chance because I was afraid that I wouldn't like this book. The synopsis sounded like it could go a couple of different directions and that I may or may not become a huge fan but unfortunately as I began reading I knew that this one just wasn't for me.

What I was hoping for was some fun nostalgic 80s remembrances but I never found those in the pages that I read. There were some mentions of the 80s but the story just seemed like a darker version than what I had hoped to read about. It's quite erotic in a lustful sort of way with the story and never seemed any romance at all to remind of Romeo and Juliet that the synopsis mentioned. And on top of those things I just didn't care for the characters or plot going on so much so that I found myself just skimming along when I did pick it up so since I kept putting this one on hold to read others I just decided to not finish as I wasn't finding it to get any better for me. Plenty of others are enjoying this one but unfortunately I just wasn't one of them.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.